Clash Of Worlds (48 page)

James was due to report back to the headquarters and he decided to drop Stacey off at the airport on route to his meeting up point. They drove in James’ car on route to the airport and there was only one topic of discussion, the disappearance of Chad. During the week in the motel, James had decided to bring Stacey up to speed with his and Chad’s secret. He was surprised to learn that Chad had already partially explained things to her. So now James gave her the whole truth.
She deserves that much given the fact she is now right in the middle of this mess.

Chad had been missing for nine days and the organisation had covered half the known world looking for him. However, there had not been even the smallest sign or whisper of his whereabouts. Others were beginning to give up hope of ever finding him, however, James knew that Chad was not as fragile as a regular person. Besides, James had covered ever inch of the ocean bed in which Chad had fallen. His body was nowhere to be found. What worried him more was why Chad had felt the need to go off alone. James knew the only way they were going to get through this was if he and Chad were fighting together.

After a long day driving, James and Stacey reached the airport in New York. Before parting the pair hugged. “Please find him James,” the girl whispered into his ear. Stacey set off into the airport to board her flight.

I’ll try
, James thought as the girl disappeared into the crowd of people inside of the building. The only problem was he had no idea where to start.

Professor Milton and Sergeant Cooper stood in the main control room at headquarters. They observed numerous television monitors that showed maps and images of locations all around the world. Other people inside the control room were frantically scrambling around, trying to work out calculations on their computers. The two lead men in the organisation looked less than comfortable, almost as if they knew something bad was on the verge of happening.

“The levels are becoming increasingly unstable sir,” said one of the men who sat in front of a computer.

Professor Milton walked over to the man and looked at the screen from over his shoulder. “Impossible.”

“What is happening?” asked Sergeant Cooper from a raised platform within the control room. He was trying to manage the growing situation, however, he had little idea of what was really transpiring.

Over the course of the last few hours, the beginnings of a series of natural disasters had begun to occur around the world simultaneously. Large blizzards had begun to form in the northern hemisphere whilst masses of Tsunami waves headed towards Asia. Up to five Hurricane winds were heading towards North America and almost half of the known volcanoes around the world, many of which had been dormant for hundreds of years, were suddenly on the verge of eruption.

Sergeant Cooper knew that natural disasters were not uncommon, however for all of them to be happening at the same time, he knew something much larger was afoot. The professor had suspected as much the second the natural disasters had appeared. The positioning of the events all around the world seemed to be too evenly spread out for them to be a random occurrence.

James arrived on scene at the headquarters as per order of Professor Milton. Upon his arrival, the professor updated him on the events that were unfolded.

“It’s him,” James said immediately, referring to Lucius. The sergeant and the professor agreed with him. However, the sergeant was at a loss as to how they could fight such a threat.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sergeant Cooper, who until the recent events at the temple in Argentina, would have never believed that one man could be responsible for such an unnatural chain of events.

A female member of staff turned around from her computer screen and called out to the sergeant. “Sir, we are ready for the digital link up.”

“Here take this,” said Professor Milton, who handed James a small wireless earpiece. When the natural disasters had begun, the World Order had distributed their agents all over the world in order to help the emergency services and local authorities manage the situation and avoid mass panic from the public. In fact, James was only one of a few agents who had not been sent out into active duty. This was because Professor Milton had requested that James led the whole operation in trying to contain the situation. Deep down, with all his wisdom, he knew that James was their only real hope of tackling the threat that Lucius posed. A threat that had become much larger than even the old man could have foreseen.

The professor knew that everything that had transpired, Lucius’ collection of artefacts with rumoured mystical powers, his almost inhuman abilities, the rise of the temple in Argentina, and now a sudden spurt of natural disasters all at once…these things were all connected. All of the events had happened very quickly, all in the past month. He knew that James and Chad were the world’s best hope in combating such a threat. However with Chad’s whereabouts currently unknown, the old man had only James to rely on.

Six large monitors became active inside the control room and an agent appeared on each of the screens. The first screen was of a male agent who was in Toyko, Japan. The background area was full of high winds and lightning lit up the sky behind him. “What’s the situation?” asked Sergeant Cooper.

“It’s getting worse by the second sir,” said the male agent. The high winds made his uniform flap around and his hair flew about wildly. “We’re trying to get all the people to safety, but it’s difficult. There are so many civilians.”

“Stayed focused agent. You have to get those people out.”

Sergeant Cooper, Professor Milton and James now turned their attention to the monitor on the far right. The screen showed New York, where Cody had been sent to aid the evacuation of the imminent hurricane. “How is the operation going agent?” asked Sergeant Cooper.

Cody struggled to stand as he spoke due to the ever-increasing wind conditions. “We’re doing the best we can sir. It’s hard to maintain control with the panic out here.”.

Something about this was all too familiar to James. His mind came back to something he had seen. He had remembered the taunts of Lucius in Sydney, and also the symbols on the temple walls in Argentina. He remembered Lucius words.
“Chaos will engulf this world and break the spirit of its peoples. You will all succumb to the will of Kanto.”
This is what he meant
, James thought.

“What is it?” asked Professor Milton who noticed James deep in thought.

“This is Lucius’ plan…to create chaos.”

“I see, now the question becomes why? What are his intentions?”

“He didn’t reveal that to me,” said James. He then began to think. “Wait a minute…” James clicked his fingers, remembering again what Lucius had said to him. “He said the people will bend to his will, I’m not quite sure what he means.”

The professor crossed his arms and stroked the grey whiskers on his chin. “So he aims to break us?” “He won’t. I’ll stop him!” proclaimed James.

“Then you should come with me, boy. There is something you will need.”

The pair made their way onto the roof of the headquarters. The professor had arranged for one of the employees to meet them on the roof, for what reason though he did not reveal. The male member of the organisation greeted the pair upon their arrival and handed the professor a large metal container. Professor Milton thanked the man who then departed, leaving the pair alone on the roof. The top of the headquarters gave a great view of the city of London. The London eye could be seen in the distance, as could Buckingham Palace. The sun wasn’t far from setting and the light was beginning to fade. The sun lit the historic sights, which looked even more spectacular as it disappeared into the clouds.

James’ focus wasn’t on the sights, however. He was more curious about the contents of the large metal container that the professor had in his possession.

“I can see you are wondering what it is I have here,” said the professor.

“The thought had crossed my mind,” James confessed.

Professor Milton placed the container on the floor and opened it. “If you are going to defeat our enemy, then you’re going to need this.”

There was a large cloth like fabric inside and the man whisked it off, revealing the item that was inside the metal container. James was slightly taken back by what he saw. It was the sword of Lucius, the item that had been retrieved during the first battle with his white-haired nemesis.

“Take it,” said Professor Milton.

James seemed reluctant at first. He had witnessed first hand the devastation the weapon was capable of. Still, he could not help but be drawn to the item. “I’m not sure if it’s safe for me to use this professor.”

The professor was surprised by the agent’s response. He expected the boy to leap at the opportunity to wield such a weapon. “All of our weapons and technology have proved useless against our opponent. However, this blade possesses great power. Such a power in fact, that Lucius himself chose to wield it. You will need such a weapon if you are to defeat him.” James listened hard, as he always did when his mentor spoke. Again, the old man’s words rang true. The professor continued, “Use this power, James. It may give you the advantage.”

James reached into the container and took the blade. A small sensation ran through him as he gripped the handle of the sword. It almost felt like home… Unbeknownst to James, Lucius was not the blades true master. The weapon was the property of Auron, the General of Alexandria. He had lost the blade, made of Alexandrian steel, during his duel with Lucius in the Dark Forest. However, as far as James knew, the sword belonged to Lucius. James examined the blade closely. It truly was a fine piece of weaponry, something that any swordsmith would be proud of. He knew that the blade was not of this world and what he held was truly a rare item.

The agent’s thoughts now dwelled on the task that was before him.
Can I really beat him?
“Professor, I don’t know if even this sword will be enough.”

“Against Lucius?” asked Professor Milton.

“Yeah,” James paused for a moment before continuing. “His strength is incredible, far above my own.” The professor smiled.

“You think that’s funny?”

“Not at all boy. I think I have the answer to your problems. Something that may indeed push things into our favour.”

“What do you mean?” asked James. “How can I match up with somebody who is physically superior in every way?”

The professor shook his head. “By opening your eyes to something you take for granted every day.” The old man looked up at the sun, which was disappearing beneath the clouds as evening drew near. “My research has concluded your genetic makeup enables your skills and abilities to be at their peak in sunlight.”

That’s ridiculous professor.
The expression on James’ face gave away what he was thinking.

“You don’t believe me? I have found you and Chad to be alike in many ways. However you are only alike in the sense that you are the direct opposite of each other,” said Professor Milton.

“I don’t understand sir.”

“Think about it. You have a weakness to fire; this is Chad’s strength. You are able to control water to an extent, whilst Chad cannot.”

James still wasn’t convinced by the old man’s theory.

“During your training sessions with Chad, you were able to match, and sometimes even defeat him whilst training during the day time. However, when these sessions were conducted during the night, Chad was able to beat you every time. I never thought about this until recently. Chad shows extraordinary levels of strength and endurance during the hours of night. If my theory is correct, then the same should be said of you during the day, when the light is present.”

The professor’s theory was very confusing to James, but he did understand the man’s logic. “Professor, what if you are wrong?

“I doubt it. Chad’s skills seem very similar to those of Lucius. If that is the case, then he should not be as effective during sunlight hours. This may be why he has only made his presence known during the night.”

James thought for a moment.
He’s right! Every sighting of Lucius to date has come during the night.

James looked at Professor Milton and marvelled at his brilliance. The old man truly was a genius. James would never have been able to figure this out on his own. In fact, no one else probably could other than this wise old man, or at least James thought as much. “Thank you sir,” said James. His joy was dampened slightly by the thought that his friend was still missing.

The professor placed his hand on James’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, we will find him.”

The man can even read my thoughts!

James and the professor made their way back to the control room. Sergeant Cooper was continuing a discussion with Cody, who was broadcast on the large screen from New York.

“Cody, something’s happening,” said a female voice from behind him. The voice was that of Sophie, who had now arrived in New York to aid the evacuation of the city.

A Dark mist began to appear around the immediate area. The same mist began to form on each of the large monitors that had a live feed to the agents scattered all around the world.

“What is going on?” Sergeant Cooper asked Cody.

“I’ve seen this before,” said James.

Suddenly, shadow-like figures emerged through the mist and began attacking the emergency services who were trying to get the civilians to safety. The agents began to engage the shadow men and huge battles began to erupt everywhere.

“Sergeant, we have a match!” said a female member of staff from her computer. Sergeant Cooper and Professor Milton made their way over to the computer. “It’s a match sir, sixty-two,” said the woman. The computer re-read the findings. “Actually, eighty-one percent.”

“Where is he?”

“London…”

“He’s here?” asked Sergeant Cooper.

The woman nodded.

Sergeant Cooper turned around and looked James straight in the eye. “Agent, you’re up!”

James nodded. He knew his time had come. The World Order was depending on him now. A lot rested on his shoulders. He knew he had to take Lucius down. He had been unsure whether he could do it or not, but the professor had made him believe in himself again.